Do Not View This Caroline Video While Operating Heavy Machinery

After her underwhelming—some might say disastrous—foray into my upstate New York neck of the woods, you might have expected Caroline Kennedy to put in a peppier performance when she returned to the friendly confines of New York City.

But Kennedy's statement after her meeting with Al Sharpton today was as soporific as a fistful of Ambiens washed down with a slug of Stolichnaya. How bad? Enough that even Chris Matthews was left wondering on this evening's Hardball whether Caroline had displayed the requisite "starch," "gut passion" and political "bug."

View the video—but remember—put down that power drill first.

Perry Bacon of WaPo opined that Kennedy hadn't given a sufficient answer to the question of why she wanted to run. Ron Brownstein of the LA Times claimed to see something interesting in Kennedy's assertion that this was not a time for anyone to sit out, before he quickly pivoted to praising her fund-raising ability.

But will Caroline's sleep-walking through the appointment process ultimately make any difference to New York Gov. David Paterson? James Taranto at the Wall Street Journal's "Best of the Web" has an intriguing take on things:

Paterson may appoint Miss Kennedy to the Senate in the expectation that Miss Kennedy will raise money for Paterson's campaign. We suppose this is different from the arrangement Gov. Rod Blagojevich allegedly discussed with "Senate Candidate 5," but we're not sure exactly how.

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